Suo Ran felt it before it happened.
That familiar tightening at the base of his skull.
That quiet pressure in the air, like something unseen had just turned its attention toward him.
The scroll.
He stopped walking.
The street was ordinary early evening traffic, dim shop lights flickering on, people passing by without a second glance.
Yet his instincts screamed that something was wrong.
They found me again.
He reached instinctively for his phone.
No signal.
"Damn it," he muttered under his breath.
Elsewhere, Cai Lang was mid-conversation when the unease hit him.
He paused mid-step, eyes narrowing.
Something tugged sharply at his awareness not physical pain, but a warning.
The kind that only came when things were about to go wrong.
"Suo ran.." he murmured.
Without thinking, he grabbed his jacket and headed out.
Lian Ziho had been with Suo Ran when it started.
They were walking together not close, not distant either.
That strange in-between space they'd fallen into recently. Lian had noticed it, even if Suo ran hadn't said anything.
"You've been quiet today," Lian ziho said casually.
Suo ran smiled faintly. "Just tired."
Lian didn't buy it but before he could push further, Suo suddenly stopped.
"What's wrong?" Lian asked.
Suo ran's expression changed.
Gone was the softness.
Gone was the hesitation.
"Run," Suo ran said sharply.
"What "
Before Lian ziho could finish, a figure stepped out from the alley ahead. Then another behind them.
And another.
Lian ziho's blood ran cold.
Three men...Dressed plainly,Too plain!
Not random.
"Stay behind me," Suo ran said.
Lian ziho stared at him. "Suo ran "
"I said stay behind me."
There was no fear in Suo ran's voice.
Only resolve.
That scared Lian ziho more than panic would have.
The men moved fast.
Too fast.
One lunged, reaching for Suo ran's bag.
Lian reacted without thinking.
He grabbed Suo ran's wrist and pulled him back hard, just missing the swipe.
The motion was instinctive protective.
"Suo ran, listen to me," Lian ziho said urgently. "You're not doing this alone."
Another attacker rushed in.
Lian ziho slammed his shoulder into the man's chest, knocking him back. Pain shot through his arm, but he didn't stop.
So this is his world, Lian ziho thought grimly.
This is what he's been carrying alone.
Suo ziho stared at him for half a second shock flashing across his face.
"Why didn't you run?" Suo ran shouted.
"Because I'm not leaving you," Lian ziho snapped back.
Cai Lang arrived just as the fight escalated.
He didn't hesitate.
One sharp movement.
One precise strike.
The third man went down hard.
"Enough," Cai Lang said coldly.
The remaining attackers hesitated.
Bad move.
Cai Lang moved like a shadow efficient, brutal, controlled. Within seconds, the alley fell silent except for heavy breathing.
The men retreated.
Not defeated but warned.
Suo ran stood frozen.
Not from fear.
From the realization.
Lian Ziho was bleeding.
A shallow cut on his arm.
Nothing serious but enough.
"You're hurt," Suo ran said immediately, grabbing Lian ziho's sleeve.
"It's nothing," Lian ziho said quickly. "Are you okay?"
Suo ran nodded, but his hands were shaking.
Cai Lang watched the exchange in silence.
Something in his chest twisted.
Lian ziho had stepped in without hesitation.
Without calculation.
Without knowing the full danger.
And Suo ran… had let him.
They moved to a safer place quickly.
An abandoned stairwell, hidden from the street.
Cai Lang finally spoke.
"You shouldn't have been out alone."
Suo ran flinched. "I wasn't."
Cai lang's jaw tightened.
"That's not what I meant."
Lian ziho stepped forward instinctively. "He didn't do anything wrong."
Cai Lang's eyes flicked to him. Sharp. Assessing.
"You don't understand what you're involved in," Cai Lang said.
"Then explain it," Lian ziho shot back. "Because right now, all I see is you pushing him away while he carries everything himself."
Silence fell hard.
Suo ran looked between them, panic rising.
"Stop," he said quietly. "Please."
Cai Lang exhaled slowly, forcing his tone neutral.
"You need to stay away from this, Lian ziho."
Lian laughed bitterly.
"Funny. That's what everyone keeps telling Suo ran ."
Cai Lang said nothing.
Because for once
He had no answer.
Later that night, Suo ran insisted on going home alone.
"I need space," he said quietly.
Cai Lang frowned.
"That's not safe."
"I'll manage."
Lian ziho hesitated. "I can walk you "
"No," Suo ran interrupted.
Too quickly. "It's better if I go alone."
Cai Lang felt the distance settle between them like a wall.
"Fine," he said.
Too cold.
Too final.
Suo ran nodded, hurt flickering across his eyes before he turned away.
Lian ziho watched him leave, something aching deep in his chest.
On the walk back, Lian ziho replayed everything.
The fear.
The instinct to protect.
The way his body had moved before his mind could catch up.
When did this start? he wondered.
He thought of Suo ziho's quiet smiles. His exhaustion.
His loneliness.
And the answer terrified him.
I care.
Not as a friend.
Not anymore.
He stopped walking.
His chest tightened, breath uneven.
"…Damn it," he whispered.
He wasn't ready.
Not for this.
Not for what it would mean.
Cai Lang sat alone later that night, cleaning his knuckles.
He stared at his reflection in the mirror.
The image of Suo ran and Lian ziho side by side, moving together, protecting each other refused to leave his mind.
You're losing him, a voice whispered.
"No," Cai Lang muttered.
But doubt crept in anyway.
Not because Suo was choosing someone else.
But because Cai Lang himself had created the distance.
And now
Someone else had stepped into the space he left behind.
Suo Ran lay awake long into the night.
The scroll was hidden safely.
But his heart was anything but.
He thought of Cai Lang 's cold voice, Lian ziho's bloodied sleeve.
Of the way Lian ziho had said I'm not leaving you without hesitation.
His chest ached.
"I don't know what I'm doing anymore," he whispered.
Outside, the city hummed on unaware that three lives had shifted direction again.
The scroll had chosen its moment.
And this time
It wasn't just danger it brought.
It was change.
Elsewhere...
Suo Ran didn't sleep.
He lay on his back, staring at the ceiling as the city noises slowly thinned into early-morning quiet.
Every time he closed his eyes, the same images returned Lian's blood on his sleeve, Cai Lang's cold distance, the men in the alley moving with certainty instead of desperation.
They hadn't been guessing.
They knew.
The scroll rested where it always did hidden, wrapped, silent. Yet its presence felt heavier tonight, like a living thing waiting to be acknowledged.
"I can't do this anymore," Suo ran whispered.
The words felt treacherous even as he said them.
He reached for his phone.
Hesitated.
Then unlocked it.
The message draft sat open for a long time before he typed anything.
"I want quit."
Three words.
He stared at them until his eyes burned.
Then he added more.
The situation is escalating. Civilians are getting involved. I can't guarantee containment anymore.
Send.
The message delivered instantly.
Too instantly.
His phone rang less than ten seconds later.
Unknown number.
Suo ran's fingers tightened around the device before he answered. "Yes."
"You're awake early," his boss said calmly.
The voice was smooth, measured almost kind.
The kind that never needed to raise itself to sound dangerous.
"I want to end my involvement," Suo ran said, forcing steadiness into his tone.
"I've done what you asked. I delivered information. I secured the artifact. I didn't sign up to put people in danger."
A pause.
Then a soft chuckle.
"Is that what you think this is?"
Suo ran closed his eyes. "I'm serious."
"So am I," the man replied. "You don't 'end' something like this, Suo Ran. You finish it."
"I won't," Suo ran said quietly. "Find someone else."
The silence on the other end stretched longer this time.
When his boss spoke again, the warmth was gone.
"You've grown sentimental," he said.
"That's unfortunate."
Suo ran's chest tightened.
"Leave them out of this."
Suo ran's blood ran cold.
"You said civilians wouldn't be touched," he snapped.
"I said they wouldn't be targets," his boss corrected. "Accidents happen when people stand too close to dangerous things."
Suo ran's hand trembled.
"You threatened me."
"No," the man said. "I reminded you."
There was a faint sound on the line papers shifting.
"You have two choices," his boss continued.
"Protect the scroll until extraction is complete… or watch what happens when it changes hands."
Suo swallowed hard. "If I refuse?"
"You won't," came the immediate reply.
The call ended.
Suo ran sat there long after the screen went dark.
His heart pounded, but his mind felt eerily calm.
This was never a job.
It was a leash.
He stood slowly and walked to where the scroll was hidden. For a moment, he simply looked at it.
"So this is what you do," he murmured. "You ruin everything quietly."
Images flashed through his mind Lian standing in front of him without hesitation, Cai Lang watching from a distance and choosing silence instead of confrontation.
If I leave, he thought, they'll be safer.
But the voice on the phone echoed back at him.
Accidents happen.
"No," Suo ran whispered.
Leaving wouldn't protect them.
Staying might.
He exhaled shakily and rewrapped the scroll with careful hands, sealing it tighter than before.
"I'll protect it," he said aloud, as if the object could hear him. "But I won't let you use it to hurt them."
His phone buzzed again.
A single message this time.
Good choice.
Suo ran deleted it without replying.
Across the city, Lian Ziho sat awake on his couch, staring at the cut on his arm.
It wasn't deep. It would heal.
But it had changed something.
He replayed the moment Suo ran grabbed his sleeve, eyes wide with worry not for himself, but for me.
His chest tightened.
"This isn't just friendship anymore," he admitted quietly.
The realization scared him more than the danger had.
Because this wasn't something he could fight.
Elsewhere, Cai Lang stood on his balcony, cigarette unlit between his fingers.
He hadn't smoked in years.
He didn't light it now.
Instead, he crushed it between his fingers and dropped it into the trash.
"You're in deeper than you let on," he muttered, thinking of Suo ran. Of the way danger seemed to orbit him.
Cai lang's's jaw set.
"I won't let you carry this alone," he said, even if Suo ran never heard it.
Even if Suo ran was already pulling away.
Suo Ran lay back down just before dawn, exhaustion finally dragging at his limbs.
He didn't feel relief.
Only resolve.
Leaving wasn't an option.
Quitting wasn't allowed.
So he would do the only thing left.
Protect the scroll.
Protect them.
Even if it meant standing alone.
Outside, the first light of morning crept into the city unaware that the game had just tightened its grip.